This application is a divisional of U.S. applications Ser. No. 09/842,891 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,505,424 which claims priority from Japanese patent application No. 2001-112653 filed Apr. 11, 2001.
The present invention relates to an athletic shoe, and especially, to a competition track shoe and a running shoe. More specifically, this invention concerns an improved structure of an athletic shoe for an advanced fittability, weight lightening, and reduction in air resistance.
In athletic shoes, since there has been a strong request for weight lightening to improve time in track meets, reconsideration for materials of shoe components and research and development of new materials have been made. However, there remain certain limitations in weight lightening by employing lighter materials.
On the other hand, improved structures for weight lightening of athletic shoes have been developed. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,107,857, to Devlin, discloses an athletic shoe having three pairs of straps on a medial and lateral side instead of employing an upper that covers the whole foot of a shoe wearer. Each pair of the straps is fastened to each other through a tongue member.
However, in this case, a wearer must fasten a corresponding pair of straps to each other, which is very troublesome. Moreover, the prior art shoe has a larger number of components, which makes the structure of a shoe complicated.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an athletic shoe that not only improves fittability and decreases weight but also causes easy handling and simplifies a structure. Another object of the present invention is to reduce air resistance of an athletic shoe.
In one embodiment, an athletic shoe includes a sole, an upper, a plurality of spaced, band-shaped members, and a fastening member. The upper has a toe portion, a heel portion, a forefoot portion and a lower periphery. Also, the upper is secured to the sole and has a plurality of elongated through holes at regions except the toe portion and the heel portion. The band-shaped members are secured to the sole or the lower periphery of the upper and extend upwardly toward an instep of a foot of a shoe wearer. The fastening member is connected to each upper end of the band-shaped members.
In this embodiment, since a plurality of elongated through holes are formed in the upper, weight of a shoe is lightened. Also, because the band-shaped members extend upwardly toward an instep of a shoe wearer and are connected to the fastening member at the upper ends thereof, fastening and tightening by a fastening member such as a shoelace can be collectively conducted at an instep portion. Thus, tensile direction of each band-shaped member is regulated and optimum fittability is realized at the time of fastening of the fastening member and besides, easy handling of a fastening member is achieved. Moreover, since the upper having a plurality of elongated through holes covers a foot of a shoe wearer, the number of shoe components is decreased, thereby simplifying the whole shoe structure.
In a second embodiment, an athletic shoe includes a sole, a toe guard portion, a heel guard portion, an opening reinforcement member of band-shape, a plurality of spaced, band-shaped members, and a fastening member. The toe guard portion protects a toe of a shoe wearer and is secured to the sole. The heel guard portion protects a heel of a wearer and is secured to the sole. The opening reinforcement member extends along the periphery of an opening for a foot entry into a shoe. The band-shaped members are secured to the toe guard portion, the heel guard portion, and the sole, and extend upwardly toward an instep of a wearer, and are connected to the opening reinforcement member. The fastening member is connected to each upper end of the band-shaped members.
In this embodiment, since a foot of a wearer is covered with a toe guard portion, a heel guard portion, an opening reinforcement member, and a plurality of spaced, band-shaped members, weight of a shoe is decreased. Also, because the band-shaped members extend upwardly toward an instep of a wearer and are connected to the fastening member at the upper ends thereof, fastening and tightening by a fastening member such as a shoelace can be collectively conducted at an instep portion. Thus, tensile direction of each band-shaped member is regulated and optimum fittability is realized at the time of fastening of the fastening member and besides, easy handling of a fattening member is achieved. Moreover, this athletic shoe is comprised of a relatively smaller number of shoe components, which simplifies the whole shoe structure.
Each of the band-shaped members may be formed of synthetic resin fiber of higher elasticity. Lower ends of the band-shaped members are located at a first region extending from a position corresponding to a thenar eminence to a position corresponding to a calcaneus of a wearer on a medial side of the sole, a second region extending from a position corresponding to a hypothenar eminence to a position corresponding to a calcaneus of a wearer on a lateral side of the sole, a first position corresponding to a head of a proximal phalanx of a first toe of a wearer, and a second position corresponding to a bottom of a distal phalanx of a fourth toe of a wearer. Thereby, a region except a toe portion is properly tightened.
A band-shaped tightening member may further be provided that extends from the heel portion to the medial and lateral portions of a shoe. A portion of this tightening member is engaged with the heel portion, and the medial and lateral extending portions are folded back toward an instep of a shoe at turning portions provided at lower regions on the medial and lateral sides of the shoe. Each distal end of the medially and laterally extending portions of the tightening member is tightened to an instep of a shoe wearer.
In this case, since a tightening member wraps around an ankle of a wearer and extends forward to the lower peripheries of the medial and lateral sides and is folded back to extend upward to an instep of a wearer, a heel portion of the upper can be tightly contacted with a heel portion of a wearer when the tightening member is tightened at an instep portion, thereby advancing fittability of a shoe.
In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, an openable cover sheet is provided that covers at least a forefoot portion of an upper of a shoe or covers a region corresponding to at least a forefoot portion of a wearer. In this case, the cover sheet covers the through holes at the forefoot portion or covers gaps formed between the adjacent bend-shaped members, which reduces irregularities of the outer surface of a shoe and smoothes the outer surface. Thus, air resistance of a shoe is lowered and time can be advanced in athletic meets.
Also, due to the cover sheet that covers the through holes at the forefoot portion of a shoe or covers the gaps formed between the adjacent band-shaped members at the forefoot portion of a shoe, dirt or rain is prevented from entering the shoe through the forefoot portion, and the forefoot portion of a wearer is prevented from being wounded. Moreover, since the cover sheet covers the whole forefoot portion of a shoe, integrated aesthetic appearance of the forefoot portion of a shoe can be described by the cover sheet.
A lower periphery of the cover sheet is secured to or detachably attached to a sole or lower edge portions of the upper. Alternatively, a lower periphery of the cover sheet is secured to or detachably attached to a toe guard portion and a sole. Here, a term, xe2x80x9csecuredxe2x80x9d means to be fixed by sewing, bonding, heat welding, or the like. Also, a term xe2x80x9cdetachably attachedxe2x80x9d means to be fitted removably by a fastener, buckle, button, hock, hook, or the like.
A side reinforcement member of band-shape may be provided along the lower edges of the medial and lateral sides to connect the toe guard portion with the heel guard portion, and the lower periphery of the cover sheet may be secured to or detachably attached to the toe guard portion and the side reinforcement member.
The cover sheet may be formed of expandable stretch material. Here, a term, xe2x80x9cstretch materialxe2x80x9d means a resilient material that can expand moderately like skins corresponding to body movements.
Embossing finish or calendering finish may be performed on a surface of the cover sheet. Here, xe2x80x9cembossing finishxe2x80x9d means a surface finish that causes irregularities on the surface of the material by applying pressure on the surface of the material at an elevated temperature. xe2x80x9cCalendering finishxe2x80x9d means a surface finish that makes the surface of the material flat by applying pressure on the surface of the material at an elevated temperature. The purpose of both finishes is to reduce air resistance due to turbulence effect or laminar flow effect.